German plan
Preparations for an offensive against Riga had been carried out by the Germans for a long time. Already in early August, the pilots noticed that the Germans were carrying out intensive engineering work on the left bank of the Western Dvina against Ikskul: numerous bivouac fires were seen in the forests. Agent information and defectors indicated that the enemy offensive was expected at the end of August or at the beginning of September.
The German command decided to encircle the 12th Russian army by attacking both of its flanks, closing the encirclement north of Riga. The main blow was supposed to be carried out on Ikskul - Rodenpois - Hinzenberg. Simultaneously with the indicated actions on land in the Gulf of Riga, a German squadron was to appear and land in the area of the river. Aa Liflyandskaya. 157 heavy and light batteries and 21 mortar batteries were concentrated to prepare for the crossing of the Western Dvina against Ikskul. Powerful artillery and mortar fire was supposed to break the resistance of the Russians and open the way through the Western Dvina.
The situation on the front of the 12th Army
The right flank of the 12th Army was advanced to the left bank of the Western Dvina, to the so-called Mitavekia bridgehead. Its left flank stretched from Ikskul to Oger along the right bank of the Western Dvina. Against Ixkyl, on the left bank, a tete-de-pon was held under the name "Isle of Death"; but after the revolution this tete-de-pont was cleared by the Russians, which made it much easier for the Germans to cross the Western Dvina and further advance on the left flank and rear of the 12th Army. In this section of the army, 2 corps (XLIII and XXI) and an army reserve - the 2nd Latvian page brigade were located.
Reinforcements from the rear did not arrive, older people were sent home for field work; Ukrainians went to Ukraine; the number of ranks in the companies was small. The commanding staff lost influence on the mass of soldiers. The headquarters were sitting in the rear. The front of the 12th Army was barely holding out. All power in the army was officially concentrated in Iskosol (Executive Committee of Soldiers' Deputies), most of whose members were supporters of Kerensky. But Iskosol no longer had influence in the 12th Army for a long time, it passed into the hands of a very strong left organization, in which almost all parts of the 12th Army were represented. This organization stood on the Bolshevik platform. In June there was a change in the commander of the army. The new army commander, Gen. Parsky declared himself a Socialist-Revolutionary.
The first line of the Russian position was located along the edge open coast Western Dvina. 8 km behind, along the river. Small Yegel, a second defensive line disguised by the forest was arranged. Retreating 10 km, on the river. Bolshoi Yegel, the third defensive line was defeated, but not completed.
Ikskulsky area. The defense of this strategically important position was entrusted to the only recently formed, poorly combat-ready 186th Infantry. division (XLIII corps). To reinforce it, the 130th Kherson regiment was sent from the XXI Corps, located in the Oger sector. The right flank of the XLIII Corps occupied a sector on the left bank of the Western Dvina from Dalen Island to the Bauska Highway. The corps reserve (110th division) stood in the area of the Schmizing manor, the headquarters of the corps - in the Rodenpois manor. Opposite the Ikskul sector in the army reserve, in the Rekstyn-Waldenrode area, stood the 2nd Lettish brigade. The area on the site of the 186th division is swampy, covered with forests.
Germans forcing the Western Dvina against Ikskul. Exactly at 04:00 on September 1, German batteries opened fire on the Ikskul positions, shells from heavy guns smashed Russian positions and artillery depots in the area to the banks of the river. Small Egel. Soon, powder magazines flew into the air in this area and many guns were knocked out. Shrapnel fire hit the bivouac of the 186th division. The people sleeping in the tent camp fled, the artillerymen followed the infantry; only those units of the 130th Kherson regiment that were in the divisional reserve in the Scripte area remained in place. Artillery cannonade continued; German batteries threw tens of thousands of pounds of metal and poisonous substances into the empty trenches of the 186th division.
At 07:00, the cannonade in the Ikskül sector subsided, and the Germans began to lay 3 pontoon bridges against the Ikskül manor. At 0900, the vanguard of the 2nd German Guards Division began crossing; this division received the task of capturing the positions of the 186th division and, moving to Scripte - Rekstyn - Hinzenberg, to go to the rear of the 12th army. The main forces of the Guards Division completed the crossing by 12:00. The last crossing regiment (2nd Guards) moved on both sides railway on Riga and, almost without resistance, on the evening of September 2, approached the suburbs of Riga. In the afternoon, artillery and parks began to cross. By the evening of September 2, the entire Guards Division was on the right bank of the Western Dvina.
The German guards received the first rebuff on the river. Small Egel from the 2nd Lettish brigade deployed to the front from the army reserve and occupied the Stahl - Scripte - Lindenberg section. From 4 pm on September 1, a very stubborn and bloody battle began between the Latvian riflemen and the German guard, which lasted until the evening of September 2. By 9 a.m., the headquarters of the XLIII Corps had completely contradictory information about the situation in the Ikskyul sector. So, on September 1, the head of the 186th division reported that, contrary to all expectations, the troops were fighting with great tenacity.
The commander of the XLIII Corps believed the more favorable reports and left for Riga to report to the commander that everything was going well. But at the headquarters of the army, information was already received from aviation that the Germans had built bridges against Ikskul and were crossing to the right bank. At about 1 pm, in a car, accompanied by an army commissar, the corps commander arrived in the area of the 5th Lettish Regiment and demanded to speak to the position of Scripte. The 2nd Latvian brigade was placed at the disposal of the XLIII Corps.
Oger area. The Oger sector was defended by the XXI Corps. During September 1, the divisions of this corps stubbornly defended their positions and did not allow the 14th Bavarian division to cross.
On September 2, the 205th division was to fall on the right flank of the 12th army in the Machine-gun Mountain - Shlok sector. At the same time, the fleet was to enter the Gulf of Riga and bombard the Ust-Dvinsk fortress. With such assistance from the fleet, the 205th division was to capture the left bank of the Western Dvina in the Riga-Ust-Dvinsk section, build bridges and capture Riga from the north.
While the above events were taking place on the flanks, in other sectors the Germans refrained from active actions.
Actions of the Russian army command
At the army headquarters and in Iskosol, they looked at the events in the Ikskul sector in a rather peculiar way. At a joint meeting of the army commander and representatives from the army headquarters and Iskosol, the following resolutions were adopted: 1) to act as a common front against the offensive of the German imperialists; 2) in order to maintain peace, do not evacuate Riga until further notice; 3) distribute the members of the Executive Committee of Soldiers' Deputies and representatives of the left bloc among the corps, and they must always be in the most dangerous places; 4) transfer all available reserves to Ikskyul (1.5 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade and 6 batteries) and, going on a counterattack, push the Germans back to the left bank of the Western Dvina; 5) the army headquarters to remain in Riga. To the right of the Latvians, shock units were placed.
The position of the Germans was as follows: on the river. Small Egel German Guard was defeated and with heavy losses was thrown back to Art. Ikskyul. On the front of the XXI Corps, the Bavarians had no success. The offensive of the 4th Guards Regiment from Ikskul to Kurtenhof developed unhindered, and the forces of the Germans increased in units that crossed to the right bank of the Western Dvina against Kurtenhof. Thus, on September 1, the actions of the German command amounted to the following result: in the Ikskul sector, the artillery conquered the Western Dvina and put the 186th Russian division to flight, while the infantry was unable to use the success of the artillery.
On September 2, the German command planned an offensive in three directions: 1) Ikskul - Script - Rekstyn - Rodenpois - Hinzenberg; 2) Ikskul - Kurtenhof - Riga; 3) from the coast and Lake Babit to the front Riga - Ust-Dvinsk. At the suggestion of the German command, offensive actions on September 2 were ultimately to lead to the occupation of the Riga bridgehead and the interception of the retreat routes of the 12th Army. The offensive was launched simultaneously in all three directions. Decisive importance was attached to the actions of the 2nd Guards Division from the side of Uexkul and the 205th Division from the side of the seaside on Mühlgraben.
Battle on the Riga bridgehead. The 205th German division attacked in two directions: from the side of Shlok to Ust-Dvinsk and from the side of Kalntsem to Machine-gun Mountain - Trench - Mitavsky suburb. The offensive began on the morning of September 2 after artillery preparation. The Russians were taken by surprise and retreated; their artillery hardly responded. The VI Siberian Corps (3rd and 14th Siberian Rifle Divisions) acted against the 205th German division. By noon, parts of this corps were put in order and occupied the second defensive line Mayorengof - Beberbek. By the same time, the reserves had arrived. The artillery of the Ust-Dvinsk fortress entered the battle. In some places, the Siberians launched counterattacks and forced the Germans to retreat. The Germans could not drive the Siberians out of their fortified positions and lay down in front of the Russian trenches.
The II Siberian Corps (4th and 5th Siberian divisions) and the 1st Latvian brigade stood in the area of the Mitavskoe Highway. On the initiative of the command, it was decided to go on the attack in the Mitava direction and, after breaking through the location, advance to the rear of the units operating in the Ikskulsky sector. But the attack never took place.
Ikskulsky area. Fight on the river Small Egel. On the morning of September 2, the Germans resumed their offensive. The Bavarians advanced on the XXI Corps, who, with the assistance of artillery fire from the left bank of the Western Dvina, captured the Russian positions by noon. The offensive on Kurtenhof-Riga met with resistance south of Schmizing, where the Germans were attacked by the 110th division.
The decisive importance was attached to the fighting on the river. Small Egel. In view of the weak successes of September 1, the guards were assigned a more modest task for September 2: instead of a deep detour to Hinzenberg, break through the Scripte - Rekstyn to the station. Rodenpois. The guardsmen could not fulfill the assigned task. On the positions of the Small Egel, they again stumbled upon the Latvian riflemen, whose stamina could not be broken either by attacks or by the fire of numerous batteries. The losses on both sides were huge.
In view of the non-arrival of the expected reinforcements in the evening, by order of the army commander, the 2nd Latvian page brigade was withdrawn to the third defensive line on the river. Big Yegel and is located in the Rekstyn area. The Germans settled on the river. Small Egel and advanced the avant-garde. The failure of the 2nd Guards Division on the river. Maly Yegel reduced the entire effect of the beginning of the operation on September 1 to a big minus. On the evening of September 2, it became clear that the encirclement of the 12th Army would not succeed.
The weak successes of the Germans on September 2 led the Russian army command to misjudgment environment. Gene. Parsky hardly had correct information about the events at the Riga bridgehead and about the mood of the reserves. Nothing else can explain the fact that the commander of the army with headquarters stubbornly remained in Riga and from there gave orders for fantastic counterattacks, ignoring the fact that there were already menacing signs of a major catastrophe.
On September 3, Gen. Parsky decided to defend himself on the Riga bridgehead, and on the Ikskul site to go on the counterattack and push the Germans back to the left bank of the Western Dvina.
This counterattack remained on paper, since the 110th Infantry of the units assigned to it. Since the morning of September 3, the division was carried away to the northeast by the general flow of retreat; parts of the 186th and 24th infantry. divisions and the 5th cav. divisions went to the rear without a fight; The XXI Corps, due to the great disorder in the battles of September 2, on the night of September 3, withdrew to the northeast. On the morning of September 3, in positions on the river. Only the 2nd Latvian Str. Brigade remained in the Bolshoi Egel region in the Rekstynia region.
On the morning of September 3, the Germans resumed the offensive on the entire front of the 12th Army; their artillery did its job, forcing the Russians to abandon their positions with their fire. So the Riga bridgehead and Riga were abandoned. The troops and headquarters retreated to the Venden positions. The main mass of troops and tens of thousands of refugees huddled in the area of the highway to Wenden. The German infantry and cavalry from Uexkül acted extremely timidly, but the aircraft mercilessly bombarded both the troops and the refugees and caused great confusion. Command and control of the troops fell out of the hands of the commanders. By September 6, most of the troops stopped at the Venden positions, but some divisions (109th and 186th) ended up in the Pskov area. The German vanguards advanced to the line Sunzel - Lemburg - Hinzenberg.
Following this German command secured the right flank of its position near Riga, occupying the Jakobstadt tete-de-pon on September 21, and in October launched an operation against the islands of Ezel and Dago, which ensured the possession of Riga from the sea. The German fleet was sent here with an airborne division and cyclists. The Russian command was well aware of not only the intentions of the Germans regarding the islands, but also the time of the landing (they made a mistake by 24 hours due to the delay of the Germans). However, it did not take measures either to defend the islands or to clear them in a timely manner. Thanks to this German fleet and landing division, despite the strong opposition of a detachment of ships of the Baltic Fleet, it was easy to take possession of the islands and the Gulf of Riga from October 12 to 17.
With this, the fighting in the Russian theater ends. From an operational point of view, the described events are of little interest. Excellent measures to conceal the Riga operation by the Germans did not lead to practical results, since it was exactly known to the Russian command. The same can be said about their possession of the Moonsund Islands. All this shows how difficult it is at present to achieve secrecy.
The ease of forcing the river, with proper preparation and support for this operation, remained the same as it was before (the Danube - by the Russians in 1854 and in 1877 and by the Germans in 1916), and the center of gravity of the defense of the river still lies in counterattacks against the crossed enemy. The Russians had amassed considerable reserves for this purpose and in a proper place, but they were of no use either because of their control from Riga, which became impossible, and because of the unwillingness of the Russian soldiers to fight.
From the point of view of the general strategic interests of Germany, the Riga and Moonsund operations had only unfavorable sides, since they diverted their forces from the main theater of operations, success in which actually decided the fate of the war and the fate of all German acquisitions in the east.
The Riga operation of the Germans, led by Gen. Gutierre, as you know, served as an experiment on which tactical provisions were tested, which were later included in the instruction "Offensive in a positional war", according to which the German troops were preparing for the 1918 offensive in France. The Riga operation was the first experience of replacing the long-term (several days) artillery preparation, which disrupts the elements of surprise, with a shorter (several hours), based on the principle of fire according to the method of precise shooting and the refusal to destroy enemy artillery in favor of its neutralization through the massive use of chemical projectiles. Therefore, the Riga operation is described in more detail.
The Baltic operation of 1944 is a strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops, carried out from September 14 to November 24, 1944 in the Baltic States in order to liberate Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from German troops. It included four front-line and inter-front operations: Riga, Tallinn, Moonsund and Memel.
The operation lasted 71 days, the front was 1,000 km wide and 400 km deep.
Side Plans
The German Army Group North created a multi-lane, deep-echeloned defense in advance, making extensive use of the geography of the area - this is an abundance of lakes, rivers and swamps, a rather rare road network, which contributed to the difficulty of offensive operations. Particular importance was attached to the defense of the Riga direction. The strongest enemy grouping, which included 5 tank divisions, was located in the Riga area.
According to the plan of the Soviet General Staff, the troops of the three Baltic fronts should attack a grouping consisting of the 16th and 18th armies in the Riga direction (it was planned to dismember the German troops and defeat them one by one); and with the assistance of the KBF, the Leningrad Front was to launch an attack in the Estonian direction (Task Force Narva). A significant massing of troops was carried out thanks to the allocation of reserves, as a result of which the USSR had a double superiority over Germany in some types of equipment. The superiority in people was negligible. National troops, staffed from the natives of the Baltic republics, were involved in the operation. The actions of the Soviet fronts in the Baltic States coordinated and carried out the overall management of the operation Marshal Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky.
At the command post of the 2nd Baltic Front. From right to left: front commander A.I. Eremenko, chief of staff L.M. Sandalov, head of the political department A.P. Pigurnov and member of the Military Council V.N. Bogatkin. Autumn 1944
During the first stage of the operation, the Tallinn operation was carried out, as a result of which the entire mainland of Estonia was liberated.
Troops of the Baltic fronts, during the offensive in the Riga direction, reached the Sigulda line, prepared 25-80 km from Riga. Attempts to break through this frontier failed. Stubborn battles ensued to “gnaw through” it with a slow, methodical, but bloody advance. An attempt to take Riga with a sudden strike from the south also failed: although the Soviet strike was unexpected for the enemy, he managed to stop the advance of Soviet troops 30 kilometers south of Riga by hastily taken measures. Under these conditions, a bold decision was made to redirect the main attack from the Riga to the Memel direction.
Baltic strategic offensive operation.
The second stage of the operation
The Riga, Moonsund and Memel operations were carried out to the end. In the Memel area, the main forces of Army Group North were forever cut off from East Prussia. Soviet troops liberated Riga, Lithuania, a significant part of Latvia. The Courland Cauldron was formed.
The Riga operation was carried out from September 14 to October 22, 1944 with the aim of liberating Riga and Latvia from the German invaders. 119 rifle divisions, 6 tank and 1 mechanized corps, 11 separate tank brigades, 3 fortified areas were involved in the operation from the USSR - the total number of troops was 1351.4 thousand people. The Germans had the 16th and 18th field units of the forces of the 3rd Panzer Army of Army Group North. From October 14 to October 27, the Soviet army was advancing, but stopped at the Sigulda line, previously fortified by the Germans and replenished with army units that were forced to retreat to the line due to defeat during the Tallinn operation (operational group Narva). After preparations, a second offensive of the Soviet troops began, Riga was taken on October 15, and on October 22 the Riga operation ended with the liberation of Riga and most of Latvia.
Rare archival photos - battles for Riga
The Tallinn operation is part of the Baltic operation, carried out at its first stage from September 17 to 26, 1944 with the aim of liberating Estonia and its capital, Tallinn (hence the name).
At the beginning of the operation, the 2nd and 8th shock armies had an enveloping position in relation to the army group "Narva" (6 divisions of the army group "North"). It was planned to attack the rear of the Narva grouping with the forces of the 2nd shock army, and then storm Tallinn. And the 8th Army was assigned the role of an offensive against the positions of the Narva Army Group in the event of the retreat of the German troops. On September 17, 1944, the Tallinn operation began. The forces of the 2nd Shock Army made a gap in the enemy's defense up to 18 km deep in the area of the Emajygi River. The army group "Narva" began to withdraw. On September 18, the Estonian underground government headed by Otto Tiif is legalized in Tallinn, declares independence (two flags are raised on the tower "Long German" - Estonia and the German Kriegsmarine) and for several days tries to resist the retreating German and advancing Soviet troops. On September 19, the 8th Army went on the attack. On September 20, the city of Rakvere was liberated and units of the 8th Army united with units of the 2nd Army. On September 21, Tallinn was liberated, and by September 26, Estonia was completely liberated (except for some islands). During the Tallinn operation, the Baltic Fleet landed several amphibious assault forces on the Estonian coast and adjacent islands. The result was successful for the Soviet troops - the German troops in mainland Estonia suffered a crushing defeat in just 10 days, a significant part of them (over 30,000 people) could not break through to Riga and were captured or destroyed.
According to Soviet data, the Germans lost over 30,000 killed, 15,745 prisoners and 175 tanks and self-propelled guns.
Warriors of the 130th Latvian Rifle Corps are passing through the liberated Riga. October 1944
Moonsund operation - an operation carried out from September 27 to November 24, 1944 on the Moonsund archipelago with the aim of capturing and liberating it from German troops. The defensive troops were the 23rd Infantry Division and 4 security battalions. From the Soviet side, part of the forces of the Leningrad Front and the Red Banner Baltic Fleet were allocated. The bulk of the islands were liberated quickly (unexpected landing sites were chosen, the enemy was not given time to prepare a defense - the landing on the next island was landed immediately after the previous one was liberated). Only on the narrow isthmus of the Syrve Peninsula on the island of Saaremaa did the enemy manage to detain Soviet offensive for a month and a half, having chained one rifle corps.
The liberation of the islands took place one by one:
Soviet infantrymen in battle. October 1944, Riga region
The Memel operation is an offensive operation of the Soviet troops of the 1st Baltic and 39th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Fronts, carried out from October 5 to 22, 1944 with the aim of cutting off the troops of Army Group North from East Prussia. The troops of the 1st Baltic Front reached the approaches to Riga south of the Daugava. There they met strong enemy resistance. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to transfer the main direction of attack to the Memel direction. The forces of the 1st Baltic Front were regrouped in the area of Siauliai. The command of the Soviet troops planned to reach the coast at the turn of Palanga-Memel-the mouth of the Neman River when breaking through the defenses to the west and south-west of the city of Siauliai. The main blow was inflicted on the Memel direction, the auxiliary one - on the Kelmet-Tilsit direction.
The decision of the Soviet command came as a complete surprise to the enemy, who was waiting for the resumption of attacks in the Riga direction. On the first day of fighting Soviet troops began to break through the defenses and by evening had already advanced to a depth of 7-17 km. By October 6, all the troops trained according to the preliminary plan were involved, and by October 10, the Germans were cut off from East Prussia. As a result, between the enemy groupings in East Prussia and Courland, a Soviet defense zone up to 50 kilometers wide was formed, which the enemy could never overcome. By October 22, most of the northern bank of the Neman River was cleared of the enemy. In Latvia, the enemy was forced out to the Courland Peninsula and there it was reliably blocked. As a result of the Memel operation, advancement up to 150 km was achieved, an area of more than 26 thousand km² and more than 35 thousand hectares was liberated. settlements. 78 Soviet units and formations were awarded orders.
Warriors of the 8th Estonian Corps enter Tallinn after the liberation of the city from the German troops. September 1944
The German troops offered exceptionally stubborn resistance and there was a high probability of an attempt to release it just with great difficulty and with great sacrifices a huge grouping from the Army Group North blocked in the Courland Cauldron. To disrupt such possible attempts, an offensive operation was undertaken in East Prussia. In addition, believing that the German troops in this area were significantly weakened, the Soviet command counted on capturing a significant part of the territory of East Prussia and dismembering the opposing troops of Army Group Center.
Tasks of the operation in in full were not achieved, although in general success remained with the Soviet troops: they advanced 50-100 kilometers, liberated over 1000 settlements, broke through from one to three enemy fortified lines in different directions.
Salute to the soldiers of the Red Army, who came to the coast of the Baltic Sea. Autumn 1944
Operation results
As a result of the Baltic operation from German occupation liberated Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with the exception of the Courland pocket). 26 divisions of Army Group North were defeated and 3 divisions were completely destroyed. The remaining divisions are blocked in Courland. German troops lost over 200 thousand people, of which 33.5 thousand were captured.
112 soldiers of the Red Army during the operation were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, three of them - twice, more than 332 thousand people. were awarded medals and orders. 481 parts received government awards. 131 units received the honorary name of the liberated cities of Tallinn, Riga, Valga, etc.
Courland cauldron
The Courland cauldron (also Courland pen, Courland fortress or blockade of the Courland group of troops) formed in the autumn of 1944, when the western part of Latvia (historically known as Courland) remained under the occupation of German troops (the remnants of Army Group North), but they were sandwiched between two Soviet fronts along the Tukums-Liepaja line. This encirclement was not a "boiler" in full - the German group was not completely blocked from the sea and therefore had fairly free communication with the main forces of the Wehrmacht.
Until the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, fierce battles were fought (some settlements changed hands several times) in order to eliminate the "cauldron", but it was possible to advance the front line only a few kilometers inland. Major hostilities ceased only after May 23, 1945, after the surrender of Berlin.
Formation of the Courland cauldron
The first attempt to block Army Group North in Courland was made by the Soviet troops of the 1st Baltic Front in the summer of 1944 during the Siauliai operation, when Siauliai was taken on July 27, and Jelgava on July 31.
The second attempt was made in the fall of 1944, when, during the Memel operation on October 10, 1944, units of the Soviet 51st Army reached the Baltic Sea north of Palanga (Klaipeda district, Lithuania). Thus, the German Army Group North (16th and 18th Armies) was finally cut off from the Army Group Center.
On the same day four Soviet armies(1st shock, 61st, 67th, 10th guards) tried to take Riga on the move. However, the German 16th Army offered fierce resistance, losing the eastern part of Riga on October 13, and the western on October 15.
The area of the Courland cauldron was 15 thousand sq. km. Communication with the rest of Germany was carried out through the ports of Liepaja and Ventspils. The army grouping of the Germans kept in the area of 250 thousand soldiers and officers, divided into two armies. The general command of the Courland grouping was carried out by Karl August Gilpert. From the point of view of the German command, the Courland pocket was a bridgehead.
The contact line of the Soviet-German troops (since October 18, 1944) passed along the line of Tukums-Liepaja and was 200 km.
Bunka. Place of surrender of the German army
Attempts to liquidate the boiler
It is known about five serious attempts of the offensive by the Soviet troops in order to eliminate the Courland grouping, all of them were unsuccessful.
The first attempt to break through the German defense line was made from October 16 to 19, 1944, when, immediately after the creation of the "cauldron" and the capture of Riga, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts to immediately liquidate the Courland grouping of German troops. The 1st Shock Army, advancing on the coast of the Gulf of Riga, operated more successfully than other Soviet armies. On October 18, she crossed the Lielupe River and captured the village of Kemeri, but the next day she was stopped by the Germans on the outskirts of Tukums. The rest of the Soviet armies could not advance due to the fierce resistance of the Germans, who went over to counterattacks.
The second battle for Courland took place from 27 to 31 October 1944. The armies of the two Baltic fronts were fighting on the line of Kemeri - Gardene - Letskava - south of Liepaja. Attempts by the Soviet armies (6 combined arms and 1 tank armies) to break through the German defenses brought only tactical successes. By November 1, a crisis had set in: most of the personnel and offensive equipment were out of order, and the ammunition had been used up.
The third attempt to break through the front line was made from 21 to 25 December 1944. The tip of the blow of the Soviet troops fell on the city of Liepaja. According to the German side, the Soviet side lost up to 40 thousand soldiers and 541 tanks in January in Courland.
On January 23, 1945, the 1st Baltic Front, with the forces of the 6th Guards and 51st Armies, launched an offensive operation, the purpose of which was to cut the Priekule-Libava and Jelgava-Libava railway lines, which were the main communications of the South Libava group, preventing its withdrawal to port of Libava. Offensive operations continued until January 30, 1945, however, it was not possible to liquidate the priekul and skuodas enemy groups and cut the railway lines. By the end of the month, the troops of the front stopped the offensive and began to consolidate their positions on the achieved lines.
The offensive operation of the 2nd Baltic Front set itself the task of advancing on Priekule, breaking up the enemy grouping and capturing the line of the Bartuva River. In the future, it was supposed to develop the offensive and capture Liepaja in order to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to use the port of Liepaja. On February 16, the 1st shock army and part of the forces of the 22nd army delivered an auxiliary strike on the right wing of the front. On February 20, the main grouping of the front (the 6th Guards Army and part of the forces of the 51st Army) went on the offensive. After strong artillery preparation and bombing by front-line aviation, the front line in the Priekule area was broken through by units of the 6th Guards and 51st Armies, which were opposed by the 11th, 12th, 121st and 126th Infantry Divisions of the German 18th th army. On the first day of the breakthrough, it was possible to pass no more than 2-3 km with the hardest battles. On the morning of February 21, Priekule was occupied by the right-flank units of the 51st Army, the advance of the Soviet troops amounted to no more than 2 km. The basis of the enemy's defense was made up of tanks dug into the ground up to the tower. According to the memoirs of General M.I. Kazakov, enemy tanks could only be defeated by bombing attacks and large-caliber guns, for which there was a catastrophic lack of ammunition. The resistance of the enemy was growing, fresh divisions of the second and third echelon were introduced into the battle, including the "Courland fire brigade" - the 14th tank division, the battered 126th Infantry Division was replaced by the 132nd Infantry Division on February 24 and the German troops managed to stop the advance of the Soviet troops. On February 28, 1945, the operation was interrupted.
On the evening of February 28, formations of the 6th Guards and 51st Armies, reinforced by the 19th Tank Corps, expanded the breakthrough in the enemy defenses to 25 kilometers and, having advanced 9-12 kilometers in depth, reached the Vartava River. The immediate task of the armies was completed. But to develop tactical success into an operational one and break through to Liepaja, which was about 30 kilometers away, there was no strength.
South of the city of Saldus on the morning of March 17, Soviet troops made their last attempt to break through the German defense line. By the morning of March 18, the advance of the troops took place in two ledges, deep into the enemy's defenses. Despite the fact that some units achieved significant success, some of them were then withdrawn. This happened due to the beginning of their encirclement by the enemy, as happened with the 8th and 29th Guards Rifle Divisions in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Dzeni settlement. On March 25, the 8th (Panfilov) division was encircled by the enemy, then fought the hardest battles for two days. Only on March 28 did the Soviet unit, having broken through the encirclement, reach its units.
On April 1, 1945, part of the troops was transferred from the disbanded 2nd Baltic Front to the Leningrad Front (including the 6th Guards Army, 10th Guards Army, 15th Air Army) and it was entrusted with the task of continuing the blockade Kurland grouping of enemy troops.
On May 10, after the surrender of Germany, another attempt was made to break the defense of Courland, after which several settlements were occupied, and some German units began to surrender.
List of units that took part in the battles: (1st and 4th shock, 6th and 10th guards, 22nd, 42nd, 51st armies, 15th air army- only 429 thousand people). The Courland group of Germans consisted of less than 30 incomplete divisions, only about 230 thousand people in the last phase of the battles.
Partisan movement in the Courland cauldron
After the formation of the Kurland cauldron, the German troops faced fairly strong partisan resistance. In the impenetrable forests, small mobile armed detachments operated, consisting of Soviet military personnel abandoned behind the lines, former Red Army servicemen who had fled from German captivity and the local population, sympathetic to the Soviet regime.
The other part of them were deserters from the auxiliary units of the Wehrmacht and the Latvian SS legion. Soviet spy Karlis Janovich Machinsh, abandoned by the Soviet command in the center of the boiler, managed to gather and unite disparate groups into one detachment, called the "Red Arrow" (Sarkanā bulta). The commander of the detachment, whose number fluctuated on average 250-300 fighters, was appointed a former German policeman from Daugavpils - Vladimir Semyonov, and after his death - Viktor Stolbov. After some time, the detachment was replenished with legionnaires from the group of General Kurelis.
The successful actions of the partisans provoked the Germans into reprisals against part of the civilian population. Thus, on charges of collaborating with partisans in the town of Zlekas, 160 civilians were shot by punishers. The partisans successfully carried out acts of sabotage against the Germans, transmitted intelligence data to aim Soviet bombers at military targets.
Movement for the Restoration of Latvian Independence
The inhabitants of Latvia resisted both Soviet and German occupation and sought to restore the independence of their country. To this end, on August 13, 1943, the Latvian Central Council was created in the underground by representatives of the largest pre-war political parties in Latvia. March 17, 1944 189 Latvian political leaders and public figures signed the "Memorandum of the Latvian Central Council", which stated the need for the immediate restoration of the actual independence of the Republic of Latvia and the creation of the Latvian government. Despite the persecution of the Gestapo, from March 10, 1944, the newspaper LTS - "New Latvia" ("Jaunā Latvija") began to appear in Jelgava.
On September 8, 1944, at a meeting of the Latvian Central Council in Riga, a "Declaration on the Restoration of the Independent Republic of Latvia" was adopted.
With the onset of the Soviet troops, activities began in Kurzeme. General Kurelis headed the military commission of the LCC and established contact with Sweden. Also on May 10, 1945, negotiations were underway with the German command to restore independence in Courland. The Germans did not agree to this, but allowed the Latvian soldiers not to lay down their arms. During this time, the activists of the movement on fishing boats managed to transport more than 3,500 refugees from the Kurzeme coast to the island of Gotland.
The activists of the LCC, who did not resist the Soviet regime, were also subjected to post-war repressions by the NKGB. They were tried with the wording: "a supporter of the restoration of the bourgeois system with the support of the imperialist states" and they received various terms of imprisonment.
Surrender
Fierce fighting went on, with short breaks, until May 9, 1945, when it became known about the surrender of Germany. In no sector of the front from Tukums to Liepaja did the Soviet troops manage to advance more than a few kilometers. Liepaja (German: Libau) was occupied by Soviet troops only on May 9, 1945.
On May 10, 1945, having learned about the surrender of Germany, the Courland group led by General Gilpert (70 thousand people) also capitulated. On the eve of May 9, a large group of soldiers (up to 20 thousand) was evacuated by sea to Sweden. Only on May 10, Soviet troops entered the cities of Valdemarpils, Ventspils, Grobina, Piltene.
Numerous groups tried to escape, some even tried to break into East Prussia. For example, on May 22, 1945, 300 soldiers in SS uniform, under the banner of the 6th SS Army Corps, led by the corps commander, SS Obergruppenführer Walter Kruger, tried to reach East Prussia. The detachment was overtaken by the Red Army and destroyed. Walter Krueger shot himself. Scattered units resisted the Soviet troops in the Courland cauldron until July. The last refugee boat sailed for Gotland on October 30, 1945.
The losses of Soviet troops in the battles in Courland from February 16 to May 9, 1945 amounted to 30.5 thousand killed and 130 thousand wounded.
Riga is a beautiful city and Riga was liberated on October 13, 1944 as a result of a beautiful, swift operation of the Soviet troops. One of the main elements of this swiftness was the crossing of Kish Lake by the soldiers of the 119th Rifle Corps of Major General Nikishin. The crossing started from Jaunsiems on 12 October. Paratroopers on amphibians and boats crossed the two-kilometer expanse of Lake Kish and occupied Mezhaparks. Over 3,000 people were transported here overnight. The enemy, fearing the threat of complete encirclement, was forced to urgently withdraw his troops.
By the evening of October 13, Riga was free and Moscow saluted the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts. The Riga operation became part of the Baltic strategic operation for the liberation of the Soviet Baltic.
AT Soviet time the day of the liberation of Riga was celebrated widely and solemnly. I remember how in 1966 the Riga Kirov District Committee of the Komsomol organized an event to cross Kish Lake. We left from the side of Suzha (at that time a regiment of troops was stationed in Suzhi civil defense) on a small steamboat, crossed the lake and landed in Mežaparks near the boat pier.
Today, the Komsomol idea - to repeat the path of the landing of Soviet troops - is again pretending to be a reality. Russian public organizations organized a swim across Kish Lake in inflatable boats. On September 30, 2006, a rehearsal of the historical crossing took place, in which, among other things, Olympic champion rowing Ivan Klementiev.
On October 14, the main group of enthusiasts started from Jaunciems. The sailing route through Kish Lake took about an hour. At that time, a rally dedicated to the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Riga was organized in Mezhaparks.
Yuri Melkonov
October 2006
Photo by Sergey Melkonov
The Baltic operation of 1944 is a strategic offensive operation of the troops of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic, Leningrad fronts and the forces of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in September - October 1944 to defeat the Nazi troops in the Soviet Baltic. The Baltic operation includes 4 front-line and inter-front operations: Riga, Tallinn, Moonsund and Memel. During the summer offensive of 1944, in July-August, Soviet troops liberated a small part of the Estonian SSR, a significant part of the Latvian SSR and most of the Lithuanian SSR, reaching the line by the beginning of September: west of Narva, Lake Peipus, Tartu, east of Valga, west of Gulbene, Krustpils , Bauska, Jelgava, west of Siauliai, Raseiniai.
In the Baltics, the fascist German troops of the Army Group North (commanded by Colonel General F. Schörner) were defending themselves as part of the army group Narva, the 16th and 18th armies, as well as the 3rd tank army from the army group " Center "with the support of the 1st and 6th air fleets (a total of 56 divisions and 3 brigades, over 700 thousand people, about 7 thousand guns and mortars, over 1200 tanks and assault guns, 400 combat aircraft). The enemy had a strong multi-lane defense throughout the entire depth from the front line to the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The idea of the Soviet Supreme High Command was to deliver powerful strikes in converging directions to Riga by the forces of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts and the forces of the Leningrad Front together with the Baltic Fleet in the Tallinn direction in order to dismember the enemy’s defenses, surround and destroy his groupings in parts and completely liberate the Baltic states. Soviet troops numbered: 900 thousand people, about 17,500 guns and mortars of 76-mm caliber and above, 3,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, over 2,500 combat aircraft (in addition, aviation of the Baltic Fleet and Long-Range Aviation were involved in the operation). The general management of the operations of the Baltic fronts was carried out by the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky.
On September 14, the troops of the Baltic Fronts: 3rd (commander General of the Army I. I. Maslennikov), 2nd (commander General of the Army A. I. Eremenko) and 1st (commander General of the Army I. Kh. Bagramyan) launched the Riga Offensive operation. The troops of the 3rd and 2nd Baltic fronts in the first three days fought only within the enemy's main line of defense. The troops of the 1st Baltic Front successfully broke through the enemy's defenses and by the end of the third day of the offensive advanced up to 50 km with battles, threatening to cut communications leading to East Prussia. The enemy was forced to begin withdrawing the Narva group from Estonia and the left flank of the 18th Army from the region of Lake Vyrtsjärv in order to strengthen the group near Riga. In an effort to alleviate the position of his troops south of Riga, on September 16, the enemy launched two strong counterattacks in the area southwest of Dobele and from the area northwest of Baldone, but did not achieve success.
On September 17, the troops of the Leningrad Front (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov), with the support of the forces of the fleet, began the Tallinn operation of 1944, broke through the enemy’s defenses and liberated Tallinn on September 22. On September 23, the troops of the 3rd Baltic Front proceeded to pursue the 18th army of the enemy, which hastily retreated to the Sigulda line, prepared 60-80 km around Riga. September 22 overcame the enemy defenses and the 2nd Baltic Front.
On September 27, the troops of both fronts were stopped by the enemy at the Sigulda line. By September 26, the troops of the Leningrad Front had liberated the entire territory of Estonia, except for the Moonsund Islands. At this stage of the strategic operation, the Soviet troops failed to cut off Army Group North from East Prussia. The enemy was able to concentrate a large grouping (over 30 divisions) in the Riga region due to the withdrawal of the 18th Army and the Narva Task Force. In the Memel direction, in the sector from Auce to the Neman, at that time there were no more than 8 divisions of the 3rd Panzer Army, which on September 21 became part of Army Group North.
Based on the changed situation, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command on September 24 decided to shift the direction of the main attack to the Memel direction in order to cut off Army Group North and defeat it. The regrouping of troops of the 1st Baltic Front in the Siauliai region began. The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts also had to regroup their forces to resume the offensive on Riga. On October 5, the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, with the assistance of the 39th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front, launched the Memel operation and broke through the enemy defenses. Developing the offensive in depth, on October 10, the mobile forces of the front broke through on the coast of the Baltic Sea north and south of Memel (Klaipeda) and blocked the port city from land; another grouping of troops from the front reached the border with East Prussia near Taurags. By October 22, the 39th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front pushed the enemy back beyond the river. Neman from Tilsit to Yurburg. The plan of the fascist German command to withdraw the troops of Army Group North to East Prussia was thwarted, it was cut off from Army Group Center and forced to begin a retreat from Riga to the Courland Peninsula.
The troops of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts resumed their offensive against Riga on the night of October 5-6 and, in the course of pursuing the retreating enemy, reached the outer defensive line by October 10, and on October 12, battles began for the city. On October 13, the troops of the 3rd Baltic Front liberated the right-bank part of the city, and on October 15, the troops of the 2nd Baltic Front - the left-bank.
On October 16, the 3rd Baltic Front was disbanded, and the troops of the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts continued their offensive in the directions of Tukums and Saldus. By October 31, they reached the line: west of Kemeri, Letskava, south of Liepaja.
September 27 - October 10, the troops of the Leningrad Front, in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, carried out the main part of the Moonsund operation of 1944. The 8th Estonian and 130th Latvian rifle corps and the 16th Lithuanian rifle division participated in the liberation of the Baltic states. The successful solution of tasks was ensured by the close interaction of the ground forces, aviation and navy.
As a result of the Baltic operation, the liberation from fascist occupation Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 26 divisions of Army Group North were defeated and 3 divisions were completely destroyed. The main forces of this group - 27 divisions and 1 brigade - were pressed to the sea on the Courland Peninsula and lost their strategic importance. The encircled Courland group capitulated on May 8, 1945. (TSB).
For the capture of Riga, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Marshal of the Soviet Union Stalin I.V. dated October 13, 1944, many soldiers and officers were thanked for participating in the liberation from Nazi German invaders the capital of Latvia, Riga. Most Distinguished military units and connections were given the name "Rizhskaya":
22nd Stalinist Riga Rifle Division of Siberian Volunteers
85th Guards Rifle Rizhskaya Red Banner Division
4th Guards Rifle Division Riga (formed in the Gorohovets camps of the Moscow Military District in November 1941).
315th Riga Fighter Aviation Division
52nd Guards Riga Rifle Division
30th Guards Rifle Rizhskaya Red Banner Division
168th Riga Rifle Division
43rd Guards Latvian Rifle Division Riga
12th rifle Riga division
225th Assault Riga Aviation Division
Yuri Melkonov
Photo by Sergey Melkonov
Germany| A. Eremenko I. Maslennikov I. Baghramyan |
F. Schörner |
The idea of the Soviet command was as follows: the troops of the Baltic fronts, with strikes in converging directions to Riga, were to cut the enemy's Riga grouping and destroy it in parts (the main forces of the 18th and 16th armies). With the forces of the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, reach the coast of the Gulf of Riga and cut off the escape routes for the forces of Army Group North to Prussia.
balance of power
the USSR
- 3rd Baltic Front (commander General of the Army I. I. Maslennikov)
- 2nd Baltic Front (commander General of the Army A. I. Eremenko)
- 1st Baltic Front (commanded by General of the Army I. Kh. Bagramyan)
Germany
- parts of the Army Group "Center" (commander Field Marshal F. Schörnerd)
- 3rd Panzer Army (since September 20 in Army Group North)
The course of hostilities
The offensive of the fronts began simultaneously on September 14, 1944. The 4th shock and 43 armies of the 1st Baltic Front, by the end of the first day of the offensive, broke through the enemy defenses in a 25-kilometer section and advanced more than 10 kilometers in depth. On September 16, the 43rd Army broke through to the city of Baldone, and a detachment of the 3rd Motorized Corps went to the Western Dvina. The strike groups of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts met fierce resistance, and only on September 21, using the success of the Leningrad Front, which began the Tallinn operation on September 17, completed the breakthrough of the defense, freeing the cities of Valmiera and Smiltene. In response to the actions of the right wing of the 1st Baltic Front, which captured Baldone, the German command transferred 2 divisions from Estonia to the city area and launched strong counterattacks. On September 24, the headquarters of the command decided to transfer the main attack from the Riga to the Memel direction in order to reduce losses and quickly cut off the Baltic enemy grouping from East Prussia. Regrouping and continuing the offensive, by September 27, the Soviet troops reached the enemy's strong line of defense "Sigulda", 60 kilometers from Riga. The strike of the 1st Baltic Front in the Memel direction (Memel operation) forced the German command to begin the withdrawal of its troops from the Riga region on October 6. Troops of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts proceeded to pursue the enemy, breaking through a number of defensive lines on the move, and liberated Riga on October 13. On October 16, the disbandment of the 3rd Baltic Front took place, its troops were transferred to the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts, as well as the Leningrad Front. The troops of the 2nd Baltic Front, continuing the offensive, reached the enemy's Tukum defensive line by October 22, and, together with the troops of the 1st Baltic Front, blocked the enemy on the Courland Peninsula. Aviation and submarines of the Baltic Fleet, by their actions in the Gulf of Riga, made it difficult to supply, regroup and evacuate enemy forces, forming the so-called Courland cauldron.
Operation results
As a result of the operation, Soviet troops defeated the forces of Army Group North, and almost completely liberated the territory of the Latvian SSR from German troops.
Sources
- / ed. M. M. Kozlova. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1985. - S. 613-614. - 500,000 copies.
- F. M. Zharkoy/ Ed. M.F. Zharky. - Ed. 4th, revised. and additional - St. Petersburg. : Publishing House of the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy, 2014. - 212 p. - ISBN 978-5-98709-303-0.
| - Yes, just like that, one young lady went, - said the old girl, - she took a rooster, two appliances - as it should, she sat down. She sat, only hears, suddenly rides ... with bells, with bells, a sleigh drove up; hears, goes. Enters completely in the form of a human, as an officer, he came and sat down with her at the device. - BUT! Ah! ... - Natasha screamed, rolling her eyes in horror. “But how does he say that?” - Yes, like a man, everything is as it should be, and he began, and began to persuade, and she should have kept him talking to the roosters; and she made money; – only zarobela and closed hands. He grabbed her. It's good that the girls came running here ... - Well, what to scare them! said Pelageya Danilovna. “Mother, you yourself guessed ...” said the daughter. - And how do they guess in the barn? Sonya asked. - Yes, at least now, they will go to the barn, and they will listen. What do you hear: hammering, knocking - bad, but pouring bread - this is good; and then it happens... - Mom, tell me what happened to you in the barn? Pelageya Danilovna smiled. “Yes, I forgot…” she said. “After all, you won’t go, will you?” - No, I'll go; Pepageya Danilovna, let me go, I'll go, - said Sonya. - Well, if you're not afraid. - Louise Ivanovna, can I have one? Sonya asked. Whether they played a ring, a rope or a ruble, whether they talked, as now, Nikolai did not leave Sonya and looked at her with completely new eyes. It seemed to him that today only for the first time, thanks to that cork mustache, he fully recognized her. Sonya really was cheerful that evening, lively and good, such as Nikolay had never seen her before. “So that’s what she is, but I’m a fool!” he thought, looking at her sparkling eyes and a happy, enthusiastic smile, dimpled from under her moustache, which he had not seen before. "I'm not afraid of anything," said Sonya. - Can I do it now? She got up. Sonya was told where the barn was, how she could stand silently and listen, and they gave her a fur coat. She threw it over her head and looked at Nikolai. "What a beauty this girl is!" he thought. “And what have I been thinking about until now!” Sonya went out into the corridor to go to the barn. Nikolai hurriedly went to the front porch, saying that he was hot. Indeed, the house was stuffy from the crowded people. It was the same unmoving cold outside, the same month, only it was even lighter. The light was so strong and there were so many stars in the snow that I didn’t want to look at the sky, and real stars were invisible. It was black and dull in the sky, it was fun on the ground. "I'm a fool, a fool! What have you been waiting for until now? Nikolay thought, and, running away to the porch, he walked around the corner of the house along the path that led to the back porch. He knew that Sonya would go here. In the middle of the road stood stacked fathoms of firewood, there was snow on them, a shadow fell from them; through them and from their side, intertwining, the shadows of old bare lindens fell on the snow and the path. The path led to the barn. The chopped wall of the barn and the roof, covered with snow, as if carved from some kind of precious stone, gleamed in the moonlight. A tree cracked in the garden, and again everything was completely quiet. The chest, it seemed, was breathing not air, but some kind of eternally young strength and joy. From the girl's porch, feet pounded on the steps, a loud creak creaked on the last one, on which snow had been applied, and the voice of the old girl said: “Straight, straight, here on the path, young lady. Just don't look back. “I’m not afraid,” Sonya’s voice answered, and along the path, in the direction of Nikolai, Sonya’s legs screeched, whistled in thin shoes. Sonya walked wrapped in a fur coat. She was already two steps away when she saw him; she saw him, too, not in the same way as she knew and of whom she had always been a little afraid. He was in a woman's dress with tangled hair and a happy and new smile for Sonya. Sonya quickly ran up to him. "Quite different, and still the same," Nikolai thought, looking at her face, all illuminated by moonlight. He put his hands under the fur coat that covered her head, hugged her, pressed her to him and kissed her lips, over which there were mustaches and which smelled of burnt cork. Sonya kissed him right in the middle of her lips and, holding out her small hands, took his cheeks on both sides. “Sonya!… Nicolas!…” they only said. They ran to the barn and returned each from their own porch. When everyone drove back from Pelageya Danilovna, Natasha, who always saw and noticed everything, arranged accommodation in such a way that Louise Ivanovna and she sat in the sleigh with Dimmler, and Sonya sat with Nikolai and the girls. |
Latvia, Riga
The territory of Latvia is one of the first among Soviet republics was completely occupied by the Nazis. The troops of Army Group North occupied Riga on July 1, 1941, and the entire territory of the republic passed to the invaders on July 8. Since August 1941, Latvia became part of the Reichskommissariat "Ostland".
Three years later, the Soviet armies began to liberate the Baltic states.
The successful offensive of the Soviet troops in the summer of 1944 as part of Operation Bagration created favorable conditions for the complete liberation of the Baltic republics. The German Army Group "North" was engulfed from the south by the troops of the Belorussian Fronts and at the same time pressed against the Gulf of Riga by the forces of the Baltic Fronts. Above German group there was a real threat of complete encirclement.
Despite the fact that a significant part of the German headquarters insisted on the speedy withdrawal of troops from the Baltic states to East Prussia, Hitler's intentions remained the same - to retain control over the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea at any cost.
By the end of July 1944, in a series of successful front-line operations, the Red Army troops broke through the Panther defensive line in the areas of Narva, Daugavpils, Ostrov and Pskov. By the end of August, during the Tartu operation, a bridgehead was captured near the city of Tartu. This further complicated the position of the enemy's Baltic grouping. But even in such a situation, Hitler's position remained unchanged: in the face of a serious shortage of fuel, losing the established production of synthetic gasoline seemed unacceptable to the head of the Reich. Not only resources forced the Germans to literally bite into the Baltic coast. While the key ports of the Gulf of Riga were in the hands of the Wehrmacht, the hands of the Soviet Baltic Fleet were tied, and control of the Baltic, in turn, provided the most convenient transport corridors for raw materials from the Scandinavian countries.
To maintain its position in the Baltic states, the German leadership took a number of measures. In particular, the entire territory under their control was turned, in fact, into one continuous fortified area. To replenish the grouping with personnel, a large-scale mobilization and the formation of new units from the rear units was launched. The morale and fighting spirit of the army was not disregarded either. The Goebbels Office was constantly broadcasting about new super-powerful weapons that could turn the tide of the War. At the same time, the units were reinforced by Gestapo officers, whose duties included suppressing any form of defeatist sentiment and alarmism. Barrage detachments from SS units were placed in key areas in order to completely exclude the possibility of a retreat.
Soviet troops were also preparing for the upcoming offensive in the Baltic states. The units practiced overcoming water barriers and taking well-fortified strongholds. The rear was pulled up, the necessary roads were built. Engineering units were preparing to build bridges and crossings. Very original ways of forcing rivers were also devised. For example, the head of the engineering troops of the 1st Baltic Front, General Vasily Vasilyevich Kosarev, proposed to block the Memele and Musha rivers with dams above the site where the crossing was planned. Subsequently, this idea had a significant impact on the course of the campaign.
The active phase of preparations for the autumn campaign in the Baltics began in early August 1944, when a plan was prepared for the future offensive, called the Baltic Strategic Offensive Operation.
The general plan of the campaign was to strike from three sides with the general direction of Riga by the forces of all three Baltic fronts as part of the Riga operation and a simultaneous strike in the Tallinn direction by the forces of the Leningrad Front.
The initial start date for the operation was to be September 4, 1944. But the deadlines had to be shifted by 10 days, when the troops of the 3rd Baltic Front were able to seize a bridgehead in the Tartu region, from where it was planned to strike at the enemy’s Narva grouping defending Tallinn. Another reason for the postponement of the start date of the operation was the incomplete readiness of the fronts, especially the rear units, for a future offensive. Thus, it was decided to start the attack on Riga on September 14, 1944.
Of course, the Soviet command tried in every possible way to hide the scale and goals of the future offensive, but this was not fully achieved. In particular, the radio intelligence services of both sides studied each other so well that by radio signal, or, more precisely, by the power of the transmitter and the style of the radio operator, they could almost accurately determine the location of the headquarters of the enemy at any level, from the battalion to the army.
In support of the above, we can cite a funny incident that happened to the 22nd Army of the 2nd Baltic Front. By order of the headquarters, the army was to be redeployed from one wing of the front to the other. The march, as expected, was carried out at night, at the old place of deployment, part of the radio stations were left, which continued to work as usual. At the new place, the troops were ordered to maintain radio silence, but one of the too zealous commanders reported to the headquarters on the completion of the task after the transition. After that, the new position of the army was immediately revealed, and the next morning a German plane scattered leaflets over the new positions with the inscription "Congratulations to the 22nd Army on a safe arrival!".
By September 10, 1944, the preparations for the offensive were generally completed, and the campaign plan acquired its final form. At that time, our troops occupied the lines passing through Tartu, Valga and Gulbene (3rd Baltic Front), along the Gulbene-Bauska line (2nd Baltic Front), west of Siauliai, Raseiniai, in the Jelgava region (1st Baltic Front ).
The following forces were concentrated for the future offensive: 900,000 soldiers and officers, about 17,500 guns and mortars, about 3,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, over 2,500 combat aircraft (not counting long-range aviation).
The German forces in the Baltics consisted of 53 divisions with a total strength of over 700,000 men, about 7,000 guns and mortars, over 1,200 tanks and assault guns, and 400 combat aircraft. The commander of the Army Group "North" was Colonel-General Scherner. The main forces of the Wehrmacht were concentrated in the Riga area. It was the liquidation of the Riga grouping that the Baltic fronts were supposed to carry out as part of the Riga operation.
